Phil Hill’s Championship year

Sebring, March 1964. By now Phil was firmly in the Ford camp. Seen here in the Shelby Cobra/Ford he shared with Jo Schlesser and entered by Ford France, the combination finished sixth overall. (photo: Flip Schulke)

Captions by Willem Oosthoek

After winning the World Championship in 1961, Hill stayed with Ferrari for 1962 but the once dominant cars were now outclassed and Hill’s stints with ATS and Cooper were frustrating. Hill concentrated on sports car racing and found more success at Le Mans. Finding images by Jack Brady, Flip Schulke and Henri Beroul, Oosthoek puts together a series of photos that illustrated Hill’s drives with Ferrari, Ford, and finally, in 1967, with Chaparral.

Riverside, October 1958. During the inaugural Times Grand Prix Phil Hill was at the wheel of this Ferrari 412MI, equipped with the 4.1-liter V12 from the Ferrari used in the June 1958 500 Miglia di Monza, between Indianapolis and Formula One drivers. The factory claimed 450 BHP, but then Italian horses were always a bit smaller. Having qualified in the middle of the front row, Phil fought a close battle for the lead with Chuck Daigh in one of the Scarabs, until the Ferrari had to retire due to vapor lock. Note the crude windshield. (photo: Bob Tronolone)

Captions by Willem Oosthoek

It is still Phil Hill’s Championship year, albeit 60 years ago. We began with a look at Phil’s career in California, compliments of Jim Sitz, and then came Maserati historian Willem Oosthoek, who offered to allow us to use some of the photos from his collection. “After Jim Sitz’s wonderful columns on his personal interaction with Phil Hill, I recalled that I have a fair number of photos of Phil in sport racers as well.” In this case, Oosthoek did not take the photos but has the rights and or permissions to use them.